Month: <span>February 2014</span>

Hodnet Fire Station to Remain Open!

Hodnet Fire and Rescue Crew
The Shropshire Star and the BBC’s websites both posted reports this afternoon reporting on yesterday afternoon’s Shropshire and Fire and Rescue Authority meeting.
The good news is that in a unanimous vote the Fire Authority members agreed that Hodnet Station along with three other rural ones (Baschurch, Prees and Clun) will be kept open. The decision also means that over fifty retained fire-fighters will keep their jobs. This is good news for local residents and those in the areas covered by the other stations which were under threat.
Yesterday’s decision was expected following a meeting of the Strategy and Resources Committee Meeting held on Thursday, 6th February, which we reported on here. Minutes of that meeting are available on the Service’s website here. They record that Councillor Mrs Barrow commented that the four rural fire stations affected should be proud of the campaigns that they had undertaken to highlight what the station means to their local communities. Later Councillor Carter added that as a StRaP member it had been very useful to visit the stations concerned and meet the firefighters, members of the public and local business people and councillors. The strength of feeling regarding the proposed station closures had a strong bearing on the decision.
On behalf of our local crew can we therefore say thank you to all those who took time to support them, including filling in Shropshire Council’s on-line survey. Well done the crew and everyone else!

Hodent Fire Crew Attend Two Accidents on A53

Hodnet's Fire CrewWithin hours on either side of a meeting which would decide the future of Hodnet Fire Station the local crew were called to two accidents on the A53.
The first incident occurred near Stanton upon Hine Heath at 7.20pm last night (25 Feb.). It involved 3 vehicles, with two 2 casualties being released from their vehicles by fire services. Three people were taken to hospital. One, a teenage driver, suffered multiple leg fractures, a broken pelvis and internal injuries and was transported by air ambulance. According to a report in the Shropshire Star two ambulance crews, who were already transporting patients to hospital, came across the crash and immediately called for back-up before helping the injured. Two further ambulances and a paramedic area support officer attended to the scene, with the two additional ambulances taking over the care and transport of the two patients who were already en route to hospital. Besides Hodnet’s Fire and Rescue Crew, an appliance from Wem, a rescue tender from Wellington, an appliance from Wellington and an Operational Officer all attended the accident. The A53 was closed for several hours afterwards.
Today’s Fire and Rescue Authority at which the decision was to be made on the future of Hodent and three other retained fire stations, was due to start at 3.00pm. Less than three hours later at 5:55pm the Hodnet crew were called to an accident on the A53 at Tern Hill involving two vehicles. One female was released from one of the vehicles by Fire Service personnel using hydraulic cutting equipment and was taken to hospital by ambulance. A pump from Market Drayton, and a support vehicle from Wellington also attended the scene. No other information is available at the time of posting.
Once we hear the outcome of today’s Fire and Rescue Authority we will post the news in another report on this website.

Hodnet and District Garden Club – March 2014

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 18th March, when we welcome
Helen Harrison, who will speak to us on the subject of Propagating Dahlias
Helen is Chair of the Stone Chrysanthemum & Dahlia Society and has exhibited her Dahlias at Bridgemere Garden Centre and Stoke on Trent Flower Show over many years, winning both silver and bronze awards. She has also been the recipient of a prestigious Banksian Medal, named after Joseph Banks who was one of the founders of the RHAS and also sailed with Captain James Cook on HMS Endeavour.
Dahlias are easy to grow and have a range that offers something to please everyone. There is every colour (except blue) and colour combination, with sizes ranging from the smallest Topmix or Lilliput Dahlias to giants with blooms over a foot in diameter.
EVERYONE  IS WELCOME
We meet every month on the third Tuesday at the Lyon Hall, 7:30pm
Visitors are most welcome to come along to our talks and partake in a cup of tea and a biscuit. Entry fee for guests is £2.00 per person.
Or why not join our club? It’s only £12 for a whole year.
 
 

First Book for Young Hodnet Author

Daniel Lewis with "The Movement of the Mobile" “The Movement of the Mobile” is the first book to be published by Daniel P Lewis. Daniel who is 25 has lived in the Hodnet area all his life. He attended Hodnet Primary School before going to Adams’ Grammar School and and then Glyndwr University where he obtained a 2:1 BA Hons in English and Creative Writing.
On 23rd January 2014 his first novel was published. “The Movement of the Mobile” is available for ordering on the Amazon, WH Smith & Waterstones websites.
Listen to Daniel introduces his book in this video.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ybx_XNsnNIU]

Multiple Vehicle Accident on Old A53

Three Car Accident 13 Feb 2014
Earlier today there was a multiple car accident on the section of old A53 which runs through Wollerton between Hodnet and Lostford.
It happened early morning, around 8:30am, as people were going to work and the road was affected by black ice.
Parish Councillor Alan Cope, who took the photograph to the left, comments:

The parish council have asked the highways department to grit this road. Unfortunately highways say that the Hodnet to Lostford road is no longer considered a major route and therefore does not and will not get gritted in the future.
The road is still very heavily used by people commuting to and from work who live in Stoke, Drayton travelling to Wem, Ellesmere in addition to local people living in the village.
When motorists turn off the A53 at Lostford, due to the appearance (markings, signage, width, etc.) of the existing road, the majority of the road users unwittingly believe it will have been gritted along with the A53 and other main routes. Additionally, also due to the roads appearance, motorists drive at a much higher speed than that of the other non gritted country lanes.

Please remember the dangers of driving during icy winter periods, especially when on roads which may not have been gritted.
There are no reports of anyone being seriously injured in the accident.

Good News for Hodnet Fire Station

The Market Drayton Advertiser and the Shropshire Star have both carried stories in the last two days that a report by Chief Fire Officer, John Redmond accepts that axing four rural fire stations, including the one in Hodnet, would not be cost-effective and would unacceptably lengthen response times.
The Advertiser was printed before a meeting of the Shropshire and Wrekin Fire and Rescue Authority’s strategy and resources committee held on Friday, 7th Feb, but the Star states that at the meeting the Chief Fire Officer’s recommendation that four retained stations in Baschurch, Clun, Hodnet and Prees should all be kept operational.  The decision by the committee needs to be finalised later this month by a full meeting of the fire authority. Whilst the crew and local residents can welcome this week’s news, any thoughts of celebrations need to be held back until after the decision is confirmed.
The Star adds that other options for cuts in the future, including the loss of a full-time fire engine from either Shrewsbury or Telford, remain possibilities as the Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service seeks to make further savings in the future.

Hodnet and District Garden Club – Feb. 2014

EVERYONE WELCOME: we meet every month on the third Tuesday at the Lyon Hall, 7:30pm
Visitors are most welcome to come along to our talks and partake in a cup of tea and biscuit. Entry fee for guests is £2.00 per person, or why not join our club? It’s only £12 for a whole year.
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 18th February, when we welcome Chris Neil from NGS who will tell us all about the National Garden Scheme.
The National Gardens Scheme was founded in 1927 to raise money for the nurses of the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) by opening gardens of quality and interest to the public.
In the first year 609 gardens raised over £8,000. A network of volunteer County Organisers was set up and by 1931 over 1,000 private gardens were open and Country Life magazine produced a handbook, known as “The Yellow Book” because of its bright cover.